Here in Europe (where a "small car" really means a SMALL CAR ), and particularly in Portugal, there is a concept that works great for one man band independent musicians. It's called the "commercial car". Originally it's designed to serve small scale commercial activities, but lots of independent people or couples without children buy them. The great advantage here is that the taxes are significantly lower than "normal vehicles". What is this concept? Take a small european car, remove the back seat and you get a considerable volume for luggage. More than enough for what we carry to our jobs. Of course, not a family car (only 2 seats), but it's the cheapest (and great) solution one can have around here (my car in the picture).

-- José.

BTW, I'm your "good old" 'matias' buddy, just changed my name to a more american one!